THE 



SOMERSET CO., PA., 


SEVEN MILES NORTH OF CUMBERLAND, MARYLAND. 

AN EXTENSION OF THE CUMBERLAND COAL FIELDS INTO 

PENNSYLVANIA, 


30 

Feet 

a 

of 

Workable Coal 

Above 

Water 

Level, 

30 

F EET 

OF 

Iron Ore 

( ( 

a 

u 

60 

Feet 

OF 

Limestone 

i i 

(< 

i i 

15 

Feet 

OF 

Fire Clay 

i ( 

i ( 

a 


10,000 ACRES 

OF 

COAL, IRON ORE AND TIMBER LANDS, 

FOR SAL^ / BY 

J"_ HElNrORir FERGUSON, 

No. SO W est F ayette Street, 
BALTIMORE, MD. 


The Sun Book and Job Printing Office. 

1871. 




















* 


t 


*9 









THE 


SOUTHAMPTON COAL BASIN, 


SOMERSET CO., PA., 

SEYEN MILES NORTH OF CUMBERLAND, MARYLAND. 

AN EXTENSION OF THE CUMBERLAND COAL FIELDS INTO 

PENNSYLVANIA. 


30 Feet of Workable Coal Above Water Level. 
30 Feet of Iron Ore “ “ “ 

60 Feet of Limestone “ “ “ 

15 Feet of Fire Clay “ “ “ 



10,000 ACRES 

OF 


COAL, IRON ORE AND TIMBER LANDS, 

FOR SALE BY 

T 

u 

No. 80 W e r t ayette Street, 


BALTIMORE, MD. 



The Sun Book and Job Printing Office. 

1871 . 



% 







T Ii E 


SOUTHAMPTON COAL BASIN. 

-♦—«■- 

The “Southampton Coal Basin,” of Somerset county, Pennsyl¬ 
vania, is an extension northeasterly into Pennsylvania of the 
“ Alleghany Coal Field,” from which the coal called “ Cumber¬ 
land, ” in the Atlantic market, is supplied. It lies between Savage 
Mountain and Little Alleghany Mountain, from five to seven 
miles north of Cumberland, Md. Its extent is about four miles 
wide, measured at the State line, and five miles long. 

The coal formation of this basin is cut by the waters of Glad¬ 
dens and Jennings Runs, to the Conglomerate Rock, (which 
forms the bottom of the coal basin,) and in some parts entirely 
through it, thereby exposing above water level all the veins of 
coal, iron ore and limestone, so as to be easily worked by hori¬ 
zontal drifts, instead of vertical shafts, a very great advantage 
possessed by few of the bituminous coal districts of which the 
products will seek the Altantic market. 

Six workable veins of the coal are wholly above water level, 
and portions of those which, at the centre of the basin, lie beneath 
that level, rise at their outcrop to a high elevation on the flanks 
of the two mountains which constitute the boundaries of the 
basin. The situation of this coal field is one of the most favor¬ 
able for supplying with bituminous coal the great Atlantic 
market; the Pittsburg and Connellsville Railroad passing only 
from one to two miles distant on the eastern and northern sides, 
and the Cumberland and Pennsylvania, Railroad and the Bedford 



4 


Broadtop and Huntington Railroad along the south and east 
sides, connecting with the great Pennsylvania Central Railroad 
and Pennsylvania Canal at Huntington, together with the Chesa¬ 
peake and Ohio Canal, and Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at 
Cumberland, Md., by a distance only of from five to seven miles, 
by two railroads now in operation, gives to this coal field an 
advantage possessed by no other. 

The geological reports of this field, made by Prof. Forrest 
Shepperd, of New Haven, Conn., Walter R. Johnson and Henry 
D. Strong, of Philadelphia, H. D. Rogers, State Geologist of 
Pennsylvania, Prof. Ducatel, State Geologist of Maryland, and 
Prof. W. G. Witt, of Pennsylvania, and the openings recently 
made, all prove conclusively that the amount of workable coal 
above water level does not fall short of thirty feet , and is easily 
worked horizontally. 

The veins of coal already open are the “ Cook Vein,” eight 
feet; “Gaumer,” seven feet, (which, from their geological posi¬ 
tion, are doubtless identical with the “Big Vein,” in the Georges 
Creek Valley, in the Maryland part of the field); the “ Six Feet 

Vein,” the “Five Feet,” the “Four Feet,” and the “Three Feet.” 

• 

Prof. Johnson says, in his report of this field, on page 51 : 
“These coals are of the class known as ‘dry bituminous;’ ” and 
after having visited the Georges Creek region, and made analyses 
of the coals, ores and limestones of both locations, that he could 
discover no superiority over those from this part of the basin. 
“These analyses,” he says, “were made with all the care neces¬ 
sary to secure accurate results. Both these coals are evidently 
of the same family.” 

Prof. Ducatel, in his report of 1836, says of this coal field: 
“That there is in the whole formation no reason to expect the 


5 


occurrence of any faults or dislocations of strata. The absence of 
such irregularities is a very favorable circumstance for mining 
operations, that will be hereafter carried on upon an extensive 
scale.” 

Prof. H. D. Rogers says of the eight feet vein in this basin: 
“ The identity of this with the great seam worked at Frostburg , 
Md ., is highly probable , as well from the character of the coal 
itself \ and the accompanying shales , as from the similarity of posi¬ 
tion on the ridge." 

In 1866 some parties were engaged in “boring for oil” in the 
lowest part of this basin, and before they reached four hundred 
feet in depth had penetrated four seams of coal, containing in 
the aggregate twenty-two feet of pure coal, the largest ten feet 
in thickness, and believed to be “gas coal.” 

R. C. Taylor, in his valuable work “Statistics of Coal,” says 
of this coal field, on page 337 : “In the details of the coal seams 
there is little difference on either side of the State line. From 
various statements, we are apprised that about ten yards of coal 
may be calculated upon. Assuming this to be correct, and to 
extend under the entire surface, there are.in the ground seven 
hundred and fifty millions of tons of coal on the Pennsylvania 
side." 

In regard to the iron ores of this basin, Prof. Johnson says: 
“ The adaptation of the situation to the manufacture of iron 
appears to be complete. The ore itself is very abundant, and of 
excellent quality. The richness of this coal formation in argilla¬ 
ceous carbonates of iron, and in limestone, is such as to warrant 
the establishment and prosecution of iron works on the most 
extensive scale the necessities of the country shall require. When 
we take into view the richness and abundance of the iron ore, 


r, 


there can hardly be a doubt that the manufacture of iron can be 
carried on in the Pennsylvania part of this coal field with at least 
as much profit as elsewhere.” 

# 

In the judgment of practical and scientific men, there is a suffi¬ 
ciency of iron ore, of the best quality, for a great number of 
furnaces of the largest class, and that iron can be made here as 
cheaply as at any other place in the United States, the coal, ore 
and limestone being in close proximity, and all the mines self- 
draining. 

The supply of limestone for smelting and building purposes is 
abundant, and some of the seams of limestone are said to be of 
great value for making hydraulic cement. In a part of this basin 
is found a valuable seam of oxide of manganese, said to be several 
feet in thickness, and uncommonly pure. The veins of iron ore 
already opened in this basin are the Fossil ore, twelve feet; the 
Buhrtone ore, four feet; the Reiberore, five feet; the Savage ore* 
five feet; the three feet ore, and the two feet ore. 

These ores range from thirty-two to sixty per cent. iron. The 
Mount Savage fire-clay vein, fifteen feet in thickness, is also 
easily worked here, and is identical with that so celebrated now 
worked at Mount Savage in Maryland, and said to be superior 
to any found elsewhere. 

At no other point in the whole Alleghany coal field has there 
been such a full development of the whole range of strata 
which are here cut through by Gladdens Run and Jennings Run, 
exposing within a range of two miles all the different veins of 
coal, iron ore, limestone and fire-clay, in such a manner as to be 
easily worked by horizontal drifts, and their products delivered 
from the mines to the railroads and canals now in operation, by 
so short a distance and so cheaply. 


7 


Besides the minerals already enumerated, beds of valuable 
building material occur at various levels in this coal basin, and 
owing to the due admixture of lime in the formation, the land is 
in many parts excellent for agricultural purposes. Ample water 
power is furnished by “Jennings,” “Gladdens” and “Indian” 
runs. The improvements now on these lands consist of one 
large first class iron furnace, with hot-blast and eighty horse¬ 
power engine, in good order, capable of making fifteen tons of 
iron per day; thirty houses in the town of Wellersburg; one 
large grist mill; several saw mills; about twenty farms, with fair 
improvements ; and a railroad of three miles in length, connecting 
with the Cumberland and Pennsylvania, and Pittsburgh and Con- 
nellsville Railroads, at a point about five miles from Cumberland, 
Md.; also several miles of tram road to .the furnace. The timber 
is of good quality, and ample for all purposes. 

In order to explain why so valuable a coal basin has remained 
so long undeveloped a few facts are stated : Fifty years ago, some 
of these lands were explored for mining purposes, and at a very 
early date coal was taken out and hauled to Cumberland in 
wagons, and thence conveyed down the Potomac River, in arks 
and boats, to the armory at Harper’s Ferry, and to Georgetown, 
D. C., and was pronounced a very superior article. Of late 
years public attention has not been called to this quarter, and 
these lands have hitherto escaped the notice of capitalists for 
several reasons. In the first place attention has been almost 
exclusively called to Alleghany County, Md., as containing the 
great body of coal land in this basin, while in fact the most valu¬ 
able part of this basin extends two or three miles into Pennsyl¬ 
vania. In the next place the most valuable of these lands have 
been locked up for many years in the estates of the Hon. Chas. 
Ogle and Jos. F. Cox, by whom they were purchased on account 


8 


of their great mineral wealth, at the very commencement of 
mining operations in this quarter, (about 1836 and 1837). In 
prospect of the early completion of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal 
to Cumberland ; and in expectation that this improvement was 
shortly to be finished, a charter was obtained from the Legisla¬ 
ture of Pennsylvania, under the name of the Alleghany Coal 
Company, at the sessions of 1838 and 1839. 

A geological survey and exploration was made by Prof. 
Walter R. Johnson, Professor of Chemistry and Natural Philoso¬ 
phy in Pennsylvania College, Philadelphia, accompanied by an 
elaborate report. Since this report many mineral discoveries of 
great value have been made, and facilities for getting to market 
opened by the completion of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and 
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to Cumberland, and its lateral 
branches, reaching to within one and a half miles of these lands. 
While Prof. Johnson’s analyses of the coal and ores furnish an 
amount of information seldom to be met with, the accuracy of 
his report has been tested and confirmed by recent examinations 
and explorations. 

Mr. Ogle, at whose expense the survey was made, did not live 
to hear the result, the report came out after his death, which 
occurred in May, 1841. This circumstance prevented any imme¬ 
diate disposition of these lands ; the subsequent death of Mr. Cox, 
the other owner, caused additional delay of some years. 

In 1853 a part of these lands was purchased, and a company 
prmed in Pennsylvania called the Union Coal Company, which, 
after spending a large amount in building the furnace, roads, &c., 
became insolvent. 

After the completion of the Baltimore and Ohio, and Frostburg 
and Mount Savage Railroads, the lands owned by the Union Coal 


9 


Company (about two thousand acres) passed into the hands of 
another company, called the Somerset Coal and Iron Company, 
for four hundred thousand dollars; both of these companies con¬ 
fined themselves to making iron with coal, in which, although 
the iron was of the best quality, they were unsuccessful financially, 
owing to bad management, and the low prices caused by British 
competition that our low tariff of duties on iron at that time per¬ 
mitted ; for the last twelve or fifteen years nothing has been done 
to develop this basin, and attention has only been called to it by 
the recent completion of the Pittsburg and Connellsville , and Bed¬ 
ford , Broadtop and Huntington Railroads } bringing the products 
of this region nearer to the great Atlantic market than any other. 

The entire number of acres of coal land is estimated at about 
ten thousand, lying in Southampton township, Somerset county 
Pennsylvania, one of the richest, if not the richest county in the 
State, in lumber and valuable minerals. Shut out from market 
hitherto by want of railroads, its resources have remained unde¬ 
veloped, and to a great extent unknown. But it being now 
certain that this section possesses direct communication with all 
the Atlantic cities, as well as with the West, by several independ¬ 
ent and competing lines of railroad, the time has arrived when 
it is proper to direct attention to it. Somerset county is a 
mountain valley, in southern Pennsylvania, bounded on the south 
by Maryland, and on the east and west by Alleghany and Laurel 
Hill Mountains. The soil, composed of the debris of the soft 
shales and limestone of the coal measures, is, unlike those of the 
anthracite regions, naturally very fertile; native grasses, as well 
as clover and timothy, grow in great luxuriance, and springs of 
soft, cool water abound along its hillsides and valleys. In every 
respect nature has admirably adapted it for a dairy and grazing 

region, and it is already rapidly advancing toward its manifest 
2 


0 


10 

destiny, to be agriculturally to Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the 
District of Columbia what Orange county is to New York. 

But it is the mineral resources of the county which are 
destined to reward most liberally those who have the sagacity to 
secure them before the commencement of their practicable devel¬ 
opment shall give them a value twenty fold the price at which 
they can now be obtained. 

The analysis of the coal from these lands, by Prof. Johnson, 
of Philadelphia, from ten different openings, is, in the average: 

18 Bitumen. 

* 

io }4 Ash, &e. 

70 Carbon. 

1 J/2 Moisture. 

100 


By analysis of Prof, Aiken, of Baltimore: 

No. 1. 

21.80 Bitumen. 

70 Carbon. 

8.20 Ash. 

100 


No. 2. 

37.30 Bitumen. 

« 

76.42 Carbon. 
6.30 Ash. 


100 








11 


No. 3. 

20 Bitumen. 
72.40 Carbon. 
7.60 Ash. 

100 


Prof. Rogers, State Geologist of Pennsylvania, in his report 
of 1841, gives the following analysis of the “Parker,” one of the 
veins in this basin, viz: 

7 Bitumen. 

2 Ash. 

91 Carbon. 

100 


It will be observed, from these analyses, that these coals are 
free from sulphur . The analyses of the iron ores in this basin are 
as follows: 


No. 

1. 


.42.2 Iron. 

No. 

2. 


. 39 - 2 “ 

No. 

3 . 


.32.8 “ 

No. 

4 * -. 


.36.1 “ 

No. 

5 --. 


.32.6 “ 

No. 

6. 


.58.94 “ 

No. 

7....... 



No. 

8. 


. 35-2 “ 




Prof. Johnson. 


Fossil Ores. No. 9. 54-95 Iron. 

“ “ No. 10.60. 


Prof. Rogers. 
















12 


Annexed will be found a table of distances by all the routes of 
railroad and canals from Cumberland, Md., (seven miles from 
this coal field,) to the principal cities of the Atlantic markets and 
to Pittsburg, compiled from official sources. 

The most critical examination of this coal field is invited, and 
every facility given on application to 

J. HENRY FERGUSON, 

No. So West Fayette Street, 

Baltimore, Md. 


13 


TABLE OF DISTANCES. 

FROM CUMBERLAND, MD.— (See Map). 

Miles. 

Via Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and others, to New York, 587^ 
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and Atlantic Ocean, to 
New York, - - - - * _ 721 

“ Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, via Baltimore, &c., to 

New York, 366 

“ Broadtop and Huntington, and Pennsylvania Rail¬ 
roads, to New York, - - - - - 335 

“ Broadtop Railroad, and Pennsylvania Canals, to New 

York, ------- 39 6 

Baltimore and Ohio, and Philadelphia and Wilming¬ 
ton Roads, to Philadelphia, - 276 

“ Georgetown and Chesapeake Canal, to Philadelphia, 474 
“ Broadtop and Huntington, &c., to Philadelphia, 263 
“ Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, to Baltimore, - 178 

“ Western Maryland Railroad, (unfinished,) to Balti¬ 
more, - - - - - - - 155 

“ Pittsburg and Connellsville Railroad, to Pittsburg, 149 


FROM COAL REGIONS. 

Miles. 

C. C. and Iron Company’s mines, to Cumberland, - 11 

Frostburg “ “ J S 

♦Piedmont 41 “ - 28 

Wellersbug, Pa., (Southampton Basin), “ 7 


* A large proportion of the coal of this region comes to market via Piedmont. 





























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